Perhaps one of the only positive things to come out of the COVID-19 crisis has been its exposure of the flaws in the FDA’s ham-handed system (if it can be called a system) of premarket regulation of … [Read more...]
OIG Findings
OIG Reports that 2018 Medicare Part B Lab Test Spending Increased Despite PAMA Cuts
September 18, 2020
It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. The expectation was that the new PAMA market-based pricing system was going to save Medicare 10 percent or more on lab test reimbursements. But it hasn’t … [Read more...]
Fee Schedules
2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Slashes Lab Reimbursements 5% but Provides Some PAMA Relief
September 4, 2020
On Aug. 3, CMS released the proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) rule for 2021. Bottom line on top: The agency is slashing lab reimbursement rates. Here are the four key takeaways for labs. … [Read more...]
Reimbursement
OIG Medicare Lab Spending Report May Warn of Greater Scrutiny of Genetic and Automated Chemistry Tests
August 29, 2020
PAMA and market-based rate reductions for lab testing was supposed to save Medicare bundles of money. But according to a new OIG report, Medicare Part B spending on lab spending for 2018, the first … [Read more...]
Beyond COVID-19
The 6 Hottest Lab Compliance Stories That Almost Nobody Is Paying Attention To
July 20, 2020
If not burnout, you may be suffering from a case of COVID-19 fatigue right now. And you’re not alone. The monster virus has seemingly consumed everything in its path over the past six months, … [Read more...]
OIG Watch
Agency to Review First Two Years of PAMA-Based Medicare Reimbursements for Lab Tests
June 17, 2020
As we pass the midpoint of the third year of the PAMA experiment—if that’s what it is—the OIG announced plans to review what happened in years one and two. One of the new items on the agency’s Work … [Read more...]
PAMA
COVID-19 Relief Bill Defers 2021 Medicare Part B Lab Test Price Cuts for One Year
April 14, 2020
The $2 trillion COVID-19 relief bill, CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act), provides for free coronavirus testing without adequately compensating the labs who perform the tests. … [Read more...]
Industry Buzz
COVID-19 Relief Bill Leaves Labs Out in the Cold
March 30, 2020
Labs who have answered the call to mobilize beyond capacity so that people can be tested for COVID-19 can be forgiven for thinking nobody in Washington “CARES” about them. What else are they supposed … [Read more...]
PAMA: The New LAB Act Buys Labs One Year of Price Reporting Relief
January 13, 2020
The lab industry has been making slow but steady progress in its quest for PAMA relief. After winning a federal court appeal preserving its right to challenge CMS’s PAMA pricing systems, the industry … [Read more...]
NEWS
The Year in Labs Regulation: The 6 Biggest Stories of 2019
January 2, 2020
"May you live in interesting times.” This ancient Chinese curse extolling the virtues of stability may resonate with those of you who work in the lab industry and have a stake in federal … [Read more...]
